Cesare Cesariano
Cesare Cesariano (* um 1477 in Milan, † March 30, 1543 ) was an Italian painter, fresco painter, art writer, military engineer and architect. 1521, he translated Vitruvius into Italian, added the book to post a comment and equipped it with woodcuts.
Life and work
After studying architecture at Bramante Cesariano left at the age of 16 years, Milan and held subsequently in several northern Italian cities. From 1496 he lived a long time in Reggio Emilia, is therefore also sometimes referred to in the literature as Cesare Reggio. During this time he worked as a fresco painter. 1507 he went to Rome, where he made contact to Perugino, Pinturicchio and Luca Signorelli.
Between 1513 and 1514 he returned to Milan, where he worked for Ludovico Sforza. His design drawings for the extension of the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso are maintained and kept at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. He was there involved alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Filarete the expansion of the Castello Sforzesco as a modern fortress.
Cesariano was also a member of the Fabbrica del Duomo, which organized the further construction of the Milan Cathedral and carried out.
The Vitruvius translation
During his tenure at the Cathedral of Milan, he translated the libri decem of Vitruvius into Italian, commented on the text and created a series of woodcuts illustrating the unimaged in its Latin original version of the text. In the illustrations themselves Cesariano based on previous editions illustrated. The book was printed in 1521 in Como. Cesarianos translation only extends to the sixth chapter of the ninth book, because it stopped working after a dispute with his publishers. The translation was completed as of Benedetto Giovio da Comasco and Bono Mauro Bergamo. The book was printed in an edition of 1300 pieces, one for those times astonishingly high number. Most of the cuts seem to come from Cesarianos hand, the cut Folio X6R is signed with his monogram and dated 1516.
The book also contains three woodcuts of the Milan Cathedral. Probably they are the first accurate drawings of Gothic architecture in a printed book.
Vitruvius spending
- Marcus Vitruvius Pollo: De architectura libri decem. Translated by Cesare Cesariano. Comment by Cesariano, Benedetto Giovio, and Bono Mauro da Bergamo. Como: Gottardo da Ponte, Agostino Gallo, 15th Juli 1521.
- Vitruvio De Architectura: libri II - IV; i materialistic, i templi, gli ordini / Cesare Cesariano. A cura di Alessandro Rovetta. Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 2002, ISBN 88-343-0660-0.
- Vitruvius De architectura. With an introduction and index by Carol Herselle Krinsky. - Nachdr the annotated first Italian ed by Cesare Cesariano (Como, 1521) Munich: Fink, 1969.